Dear BPCWA worshipper, Last week, we saw how God Himself compares His word to rain in Isaiah 55:10-11. Rain waters and brings growth to the earth it falls on. God rains to bring fruitfulness. Likewise, God intends His Word to bring fruit too, and accomplish His purpose. We thank God for a church that teaches His Word faithfully. Even as we do so, we must be conscious too that God has a purpose for that. It isn’t just a duty for the church pastor to do. As the Word is preached every Lord’s Day and at every Bible study, we must understand then that God intends it to bring fruit. That is God’s desired purpose. However, even if it does not bring the fruit that God intends, we also saw how God’s purpose is never foiled because the Word then served to judge the hearer. Today, we will look at another aspect as we continue looking at what God says about fruit. We stress (and rightly so) about being “doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (Jas 1:22). But does doing the “right” actions mean that there is a good fruit in response to God’s Word?

Have actions, but no fruit. We are told of John who was “preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, 2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Mt 3:1-2). The fruit that God was expecting was the fruit of repentance, since John preached a message of repentance. As a result, “Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, 6 And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.” (Mt 3:5-6). Immediately following this however, we are told that John “saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism” (Mt 3:7). To the non-discerning observer or even to others who were getting baptised, this might have caused quite a stir and excitement. After all, surely it must be significant that these Pharisees and Sadducees, being religious people by their outward actions, seemed to openly attest to John’s preaching by being present and perhaps some may even have wanted to be baptised. But God gave John the discernment to respond to their outward interest and actions. Instead of being “thrilled and honoured” at their coming and think that John now had the support of these religious men of society, John rebuked them sharply, “O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:” (Mt 3:7-8). They had the actions, but God, who saw their hearts, knew that their actions were not because of the genuine fruit of repentance in their hearts. They were even doing the right thing – in this case wanting to hear and be baptized – but it was just an outward religious show that was not motivated by true repentance. It was merely a desire for outward conformity since John was also popular among the people at that time. They thought they could fool men with a show of “good” religious acts to seem to have the “right response”, but they couldn’t fool God, who publicly exposed their false piety.

Good fruit.  God helps us understand what good fruit is by describing 2 other groups who went forward for baptism. Responding to John’s message of “repentance for the remission of sins” (Lu 3:3), “Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do?” (Lu 3:12). Besides the publicans, “the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do?” (Lu 3:14). The publicans were despised by the Jews for being tax collectors for the hated Romans. It isn’t clear if the soldiers were Jews or Romans, but in either of these cases, they certainly would also have been despised by the Jews for either betraying their own or as symbols of the hated Roman reign. What is interesting, however, is that these 2 groups wanted their specific sins to be addressed. When they came, it was with a specific question of what sins in their lives needed to be dealt with! When we come to church or the camp to hear God’s Word, are our hearts desiring to be told which areas of our lives need to be changed and corrected, or are we instead desiring a pat on our backs because we seem to be “doing the right thing”? In both instances of John’s replies, it would require a great change in their lives. The publicans, who largely were into tax collection for the “profit” it would bring them, would have to deal with that in their lives. The soldiers would have to be openly rebuked for doing violence, sins they were notorious and hated for by the populace. They too, had to repent of their avarice and lusts. It was not just a tinge of regret but a completely different view of sin which would be reflected by a drastic change in their lives. Repentance was stirring their hearts so much so that they urged John to tell them what to do. It was not just the external act of being baptised that they desired. The repentance under the Word preached by John made them desire to bear the fruits of repentance. God’s Word is meant to bring the fruit of repentance. Knowing what is sinful, feeling a bit regretful, but going away forgetting what we are and not doing anything about what the Word has rained on us, is not bearing good fruit. Even doing the right thing (like the Pharisees desiring to be present at the baptisms) does not demonstrate that there is repentance or a desire for repentance. We must do what is commanded by God but be sure that your presence at church activities is to receive the Word to repent of our ways. Let our outward actions be motivated by genuine inward desires to be pure through obedience of the Word. Without this, our outward “good works” will amount to nothing before God. Men may not know, but the omniscient God does. May this thought cause us to fear.

Mt 23:27-28  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.  28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

Yours in our Lord’s service,
Pastor